Moving house: cottage built inside Olympia's 1920 Ideal Home Exhibition then reassembled in Surrey commuter village is for sale

Built inside Olympia for the 1920 Ideal Home Exhibition, this timber-clad, wood panelled jewel was dismantled and taken to a chocolate box village in Surrey.
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Becky Davies21 February 2018

A stunning Twenties home built especially for the Ideal Home Exhibition and rebuilt inside a delightful garden in Surrey has gone on the market for £1.25million.

The show at Olympia became famous for its rows of full-size houses, which were constructed and fully furnished on site.

The exhibition was founded 110 years ago but it really exploded in popularity in the Twenties when home ownership took off in Britain. At its peak the event attracted 1.5million visitors.

Boundary Cottage was built for the show in 1920 and is a beautiful example of the style of architecture that took the best of the Arts and Crafts movement and merged it with the emerging Tudor-bethan style that dominated Thirties house construction and to this day makes up vast swathes of London’s outer suburbs.

Leaded windows and elm panels make for a lovely room to relax in. (Park & Bailey)
Park & Bailey

Boundary Cottage is one of three houses all designed by the same architect in a development in Chaldon, an affluent, chocolate box village just outside Caterham.

Set in formal landscaped gardens covering three quarters of an acre, the grounds also house an impressive garage block which has room for four cars as well as a two-bedroom apartment above it.

The house is timber-framed and clad in elm, while even the roof tiles are wood and made of Canadian red cedar.

Leaded windows reflect the architectural mores of the era and inside it is even more charming than outside.

Elm panelled walls and open-frame ceilings provide a cosy feel to what is in fact a large family home, covering over 1,600 sq ft.

The reception rooms include a drawing room, cosy sitting room and family room, not to mention the kitchen, complete with a wonderful wood-burning stove.

There is also a separate utility room, storeroom and bathroom.

The terrace and all-mod-cons summer house in the 0.75-acre garden. (Park & Bailey)
Park & Bailey

Two of the three bedroom have en suite shower rooms and two of the bedrooms even feature unusual leaded windows covering two walls in an entire corner.

The vast garage complex alone is twice the size of the average British new-build and for families who want to entertain guests frequently or just want to peace from unruly teenagers, the upstairs apartment is ideal.

One of the bedrooms is a good-sized double, while the other one is being used as walk-in dressing room.

The stunning nature of the grounds can only be fully appreciated in the photographs above and includes a beautiful lawn, dotted with flowerbeds, a vast paved terrace for al fresco partying, while a summer house — fully fitted for light and power — would make the perfect venue to write that novel in peace.

Although in an idyllic setting, the house would make a perfect commuter home to the capital and all points beyond, thanks to Junction 6 of the M25 being just down the road.

Caterham station is exactly a mile from the house and direct services to Victoria take 52 minutes, although picking up the fast train after changing at East Croydon can get you there in 45 minutes.

Boundary Cottage is on the market for £1.25million through Park & Bailey

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